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Articles and
Reports Letter to President Robert H. Bruininks of the University of Minnesota
6/12/08 President Robert H. Bruininks President Bruininks, I am contacting you today in regard to experimental procedures used
by several researchers at the University of Minnesota. These researchers
are Claudia Hendrix, Timothy Ebner and Marilyn Carroll. These research
projects use macaque monkeys in procedures that are highly questionable
from a scientific point of view, and are also highly stressful and
painful for the primates. Sec. 2.36 Annual report. (7) State the common names and the numbers of animals upon which
teaching, experiments, research, surgery, or tests were conducted
involving accompanying pain or distress to the animals and for which the
use of appropriate anesthetic, analgesic, or tranquilizing drugs would
have adversely affected the procedures, results, or interpretation of
the teaching, research, experiments, surgery, or tests. An explanation
of the procedures producing pain or distress in these animals and the
reasons such drugs were not used shall be attached to the annual report;
It is clear that the experiments of Hendrix, Ebner and Carroll would
fall into the category of unrelieved pain and distress for the animals
involved. Failure to accurately report this experiment to the USDA is a
violation of the Animal Welfare Act. I am also very concerned about
these primates having adequate access to water. 4. The use of food and/or water deprivation in non-human primates for
any reason but pre-surgical fasting. Depriving non-human primates of
sustenance for extended periods as is currently practiced by University
of Minnesota laboratories is inhumane, unethical, and has been declared
causative of pain and distress by scientific experts. 5. The surgical attachment of devices such as restraining bars and
recording cylinders to the skulls of non-human primates. These devices
have also been declared by experts to cause pain and or distress in
primates. 6. The use of primate restraint chairs in projects involving
non-human primates. These devices severely restrict the movement of
primates and have been declared by experts to cause substantial
distress. The University of Minnesota uses a significant number of primates in
experiments every year. I believe it is very likely that some of these
animals are killed unnecessarily, when they could be retired to a
primate sanctuary to live out their lives in a place that is designed to
meet their needs. Therefore, I respectfully request that the University
of Minnesota institute a fully funded retirement program for all
primates that are not currently utilized in ongoing research projects. Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., See also :
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
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